"I am a realist. There are other pressures on government money. The $15m allocation is still a significant investment for this sector and if we get a good share of that it will be significant for RNZ," he said.

An advisory group set up by Ms Curran has yet to make recommendations as to how the additional $15m will be split between RNZ and New Zealand On Air (NZOA), which allocates public money to a range of media platforms on a contestable basis.

RNZ and NZ On Air pitched proposals for the funding to an advisory group on 3 April.